Description

The tenured faculty are the foundation for the academic pursuits and achievements of higher education in general and specific universities or colleges in particular. The fact that one is granted tenure with the freedom to pursue ones intellectual work, mentor younger non-tenured faculty and teach new knowledge to future generations is a major responsibility for these members of the academy. Yet with this privilege and responsibility comes a greater demand for accountability, especially in a world where the development of knowledge is the critical factor in the well being of a society and humankind. In our outcomes-based, performance-driven, result-oriented work environment emerging in the larger society, tenure and its privileges has come under increasing scrutiny. If we are to preserve tenure, we must outwardly demonstrate its worth to society.

It was in this atmosphere that the focus on post-tenure review became a national concern and the extensive inquiry resulting in the three-volume series on Post-Tenure Faculty Review and Renewal was launched by the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE). My colleague, Chris Licata, and I have spent the last decade focusing our attention on this important topic and this book is the third of the trilogy. The first volume focused on the experiences of single institutions and state systems in their adoption and use of post-tenure review. Many important insights were gleaned from this work. The second volume focused on how data about post-tenure review are gathered and presented and what influence such presentation has had on policy implementation and understanding. The present and third volume, by focusing on the outcomes and impact of post-tenure review, is then the culmination of this decade long work.

Post-Tenure Faculty Review and Renewal III: Outcomes and Impact (Anker Publishing Company, Inc., 2005) represents the only national study to date that uses multiple methods of data collection and analysis to understand how campuses of different size, mission and culture experience the review process and describe its impact. The book provides the most comprehensive report on the outcomes of post-tenure review within senior-level, four year institutions as reported by campus faculty and administrators. The study brings together the findings from nine different institutional case studies, focusing on the effectiveness and outcomes of post-tenure review.

The book is essential reading for administrators, faculty, public policy makers and researchers in higher education. Chapters 1 through 5 provide the background methodology and analysis of the nine institutions studied in depth. Chapter 6 offers a guide for practitioners as well as a model of success for the implementation of post-tenure review. The last two chapters address the important issues centering on maintaining faculty vitality and relating post-tenure review to organizational change. We have provided appendices for those who are interested in the more technical material, data analysis and methodology.

On a personal level, I have found this work to be exceptionally rewarding. Having been a faculty member for twenty-five years and a senior administrator for the past decade at three universities and one liberal arts college, I have seen the role of the faculty from different vantage points. I have also appreciated the wonderful gift of tenure with its inherent freedom to pursue ones research and create and publish new knowledge as well as teach it to future scholars and practitioners. Being a tenured faculty member is a very rewarding endeavor and carries with it much responsibility to the university or college where it is earned. It also carries important responsibilities of continuous development and improvement. It is for these reasons that this effort on post-tenure review and renewal is essential. The goals is not just accountability but more importantly, it is fostering continuous renewal in dedicated academics who devout a whole life to a career as a professor.